With an overcast sky and temperatures in the low 40s, Westmont men’s and women’s cross country competed in the NAIA National Championships on Saturday morning at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha Wisconsin. The men’s squad finished sixteenth in the 28 team event, three better than their #19 national ranking. The women’s team finished seventeenth of 29 teams.

Senior Anna Stumbo posted a time of 18:14.6 in the women’s 5,000 meter race to claim 16th place and her fourth NAIA Cross Country All-American title. She joins Miriam Niednagel (1993-94) as the only two runners to earn All-American honors in each of their four years at Westmont.

Asked how she was feeling after the race, Stumbo replied, “I’m really relieved and grateful and feel privileged and happy. It was really helpful going into the race knowing this was my final one and trusting that God had given me this last opportunity.”

“Anna did her usual,” said head coach Russell Smelley. “She was forced to the front, ran there and hung on. She did very well. She’s a four-year All-American – that’s an outstanding accomplishment.”

In addition to her cross country honors, Stumbo has earned four All-American titles in track and field, making her an eight-time NAIA All-American.

Finishing second among the Westmont women was senior Lisa Griego who recorded a time of 18:42.2 and claimed 47th place out of the field of 268 runners.

“I have never been in a race that crowded,” said Griego. “I was ready to move at mile one. The pack was so tight. Finally I realized that I had to literally push to make a path for myself which is not what I want to do in a race. I waited longer than I should have to do it so I probably finished 20 points back from where I would have liked. If I had moved sooner, I think I could have been top-30. So I’m bummed about that.”

All-American honors are awarded to the top 30 finishers.

“Lisa had a more patient, ‘I’ll get them later’ approach,” said Smelley. “But it’s too big a field to pull that off to get All-American like she wanted today. If she could have been here last year, she could have been an All-American today. She needed the experience of the field.”

Sophomore Christa Juell was the third across the finish line for the Warriors, placing 131st (19:25.7) in what Smelley described as an outstanding race. Senior Leanne Riggin and freshman Chrissa Trudelle rounded out the scoring for the Warriors with Riggin placing 188th (19:58.6) and Trudelle finishing in 190th (19:59.6).

“This was the most fun I’ve ever had in a race,” said Riggin. “I’ve been running for so long and it was all culminating in this race where we were reaching our highest potential on this team this year. We hit every team goal we set and were always encouraging each other and talking. It was a great team race and was really fun.”

“Leanne did a good job of coming back,” said Smelley. “She was out of the race seemingly, but just kept forcing it in the last mile and got back up and scored.”

“I was a little emotional last night,” said Riggin, reflecting on the fact that this was her last collegiate race. “I feel ready to be done, but cross country is always going to be a part of my heart.”

Also competing for the Warriors were freshman Katie Fritzke (20:04.1) and junior Kaitlyn Dunn (20.26.7).

Senior Robby Cherry was the top Westmont finisher on the men’s side, placing 51st in a time of 25:48.0.

“Robby, a senior walk-on, finally had the race he wanted to have at Nationals,” declared Smelley. “He moved up the whole race, from the 80s to 51st. That is an outstanding performance for him.”

“I was very satisfied with the race and happy with how I performed,” said Cherry. “I was surprised how great the course was. There is so much to it. It has a lot of character.”

The Dannehl Course is the only course in the country dedicated to cross country. In the spring, summer and fall it is used for cross country running. In the winter, it becomes a cross country skiing course.”

“I am very happy with how God has blessed me and allowed me to become a leader on this team,” said Cherry. “It has been a blessing to me to be a part of Westmont and I am very happy with how my four years have gone.”

A cross country All-American in his sophomore season, senior Aaron Megazzi was fighting a cold and having difficulties breathing in the championship race. Still, he finished second among the Warrior men, taking 103rd place out of 258 competitors in a time of 26:16.3.

“Aaron had high hopes and prepared himself well mentally, but his body wasn’t 100% so he did what he could,” said Smelley. “He had every opportunity to give up in the middle of the race but he got himself back in it and got together with his teammates and helped them.”

“There is never any rhyme or reason to racing,” declared Megazzi. “Sometimes you go out there and run fast and sometimes you don’t. I personally feel that every race I run is the hardest race of my life. That holds true with this one too. I did not feel good out there. But I did what I could. You don’t really want to go out like this, but I was happy with our team’s performance. Our team did a great job of sticking together and finishing strong.”

Finishing one place and one second behind Megazzi was sophomore Sean Adams.

“Sean ran a tremendous race,” said Smelley, “He’s a tough racer who just keeps getting better.”

In 107th place was senior Nick Martin who posted a time of 26:18.5.

“Nick ran the race a senior should run,” said Smelley, “He was hurting, but just decided he needed to do better and passed a lot of people in the last mile.”

“I was happy with the race,” said Martin. “Where I finished compared to other runners in our region and within the team is about where I had hoped to be.

“I’m looking forward to not having ever to run another cross country race,” continued Martin honestly. “They’re brutal. But I think it helped knowing it was my last race. It gave me a little bit of extra incentive at times I just did not want to keep going. It gave me the motivation to keep moving.”

The final scorer for the Warriors was junior Kirby Ifland who learned yesterday that he would be taking the place of injured runner Andrew Dixon. Ifland, whom Smelley called, “the man of the day,” placed 156th in a time of 26:41.9.

“I liked how packed the race was,” said Ifland. “I liked having a big crowd of good runners all around you. It really keeps you going through the hard parts of the race to have a bunch of runners around you.”

Rounding out the field of Westmont runners were freshman Jacob Goodin (26:52.2) and Eric Williams (27:15.6).

“Our two freshmen may be disappointed,” acknowledged Smelley, “but they got valuable experience and they will help the team get back here (to nationals) again. This should be the start of at least a four-year run.”

[men’s results] [women’s results]